The present invention relates to a semirigid packet for elongated elements, particularly cigarettes.
In the following description, reference is made purely by way of example to a semirigid cigarette packet.
The cigarettes coming off a production machine are normally formed into groups, each constituting the content of a "soft" packet, to which the following description substantially refers, or a rigid packet.
Known soft packets normally comprise a closed inner wrapping, normally of foil and substantially in the form of a rectangular parallelepipedon; and a tubular lateral wrapping normally made of paper or similar, and which either covers only the longitudinal lateral walls of the inner wrapping, or is longer than the lateral walls and presents a projecting portion which is folded to form a soft cup-shaped outer container. The soft outer container is in the form of a rectangular parallelepipedon open at one end to enable access to a corresponding closed end of the inner wrapping.
Known packets of the above type present several drawbacks, mainly due to the use of relatively soft wrapping materials which in no way provide for protecting the cigarettes against external stress.
As yet, the above drawbacks have been solved by rigid hinged-lid packets which, however, are relatively expensive to produce.